The school law of Illinois, enacted by the Forty-sixth General Assembly online

lands granted for the use of schools to the inhabitants of fractional
townships in which there is no section 16, or in case such section shall
not contain the proper proportion for the use of schools in such frac-



tional townships, shall be held as common school lands; and the pro-
visions of this Act referring to common school lands shall be deemed
to apply to them.

218. All the business of a township, relating to common school
lands shall be transacted in the county which contains all or the greater
portion of such lands.

219. The trustees of schools in townships in which section sixteen,
or other lands granted in lieu thereof, remain unsold, or which has title
to any other school lands whatsoever, may rent or lease the same for an
annual rent to be paid in money. The contract made by the president
and clerk, under the direction of the trustees of schools, with the lessee
or lessees, for the rent or lease of such lands, shall be in writing and shall
be filed with the records of the board, and a copy transmitted to the
county superintendent. In case of default in the payment of the rent,
the trustees shall at once proceed to collect the same by distress, or
otherwise, as may be provided by law for the collection of rents by land-
lords. No lease taken under the provisions of this Act shall be for a
longer period than five years, except when such lands are leased for the
purpose of having permanent improvements made thereon, as in cities
and villages. The provisions of this section shall not apply to cities
having a population of over one hundred thousand inhabitants.

220. The trustees of schools of any township are hereby authorized
to sell and convey to any railroad company a right of way across any
school lands of such township, and necessary depot grounds.

221. If any person shall, without being duly authorized, cut, fell,
box, bore, destroy or carry away any tree, sapling or log standing or
being upon any school lands, such person shall forfeit and pay, for every
tree, sapling or log so felled, boxed, bored, destroyed or carried away,
the sum of eight dollars, which penalty shall be recovered with costs of
suit, by action of debt or assumpsit, before any justice of the peace,
or in the county or circuit court, either in the corporate name of the
board of trustees of the township to which the land belongs, or by qui
tarn action in the name of any person who will first sue for the same.
One-half of the judgment secured in such action shall go to the person
suing and the other half to the township. When two or more persons
shall be concerned in the same trespass, they shall be jointly and sever-
ally liable for the penalty herein 'imposed.

222. Every trespasser upon common school lands shall be liable
to indictment, and, upon conviction, shall be fined three times the
amount of the injury occasioned by the trespass, and shall stand com-
mitted as in other cases of misdemeanor.

223. All penalties and fines collected under the provisions of the
two preceding sections shall be paid to the township treasurer and be
added to the principal of the township fund.

224. When the inhabitants of any township shall desire the sale
of the common school lands of such township, they shall present to the
county superintendent of the county in which the school lands of the
township or the greater part thereof lie, a petition for their sale. Such
petition shall be signed by at least two-thirds of the legal voters of the



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township. The petition must be signed in the presence of at least two
adult citizens of the township, after the true meaning and purpose there-
of have been explained; and an affidavit must be affixed thereto by the
two citizens witnessing the signing, which affidavit shall state the num-
ber of inhabitants in the township 21 years of age and over, and the
petition so verified shall be delivered to the county superintendent for
his action thereon. In townships having a population of more than
10,000 inhabitants, such petition shall be signed by at least one-tenth
of the legal voters of the township, and delivered to the county superin-
tendent at least fifteen days preceding the regular election of trustees,
or the date of a special election which may be called for such purpose;
and thereupon it shall be the duty of the county superintendent to notify
the voters of such township that an election for or against the proposi-
tion to sell common school lands of the township, or a portion thereof,
will be held at the next regular election of trustees, or at a special elec-
tion called for that purpose, by posting notices of such election in at
least ten of the most public places throughout such township, for at
least ten days before the date of such regular or special election, which
notice may be in the following form, to wit :

ELECTION FOB SALE OF COMMON SCHOOL LANDS.

Notice is hereby given that on the day of

1. . ., an election will be held at for the purpose of

voting "for" or "against" the proposition to sell common school lands of
the township, to-wit: (here insert description of the lands). The polls will

be opened at o'clock, ....m., and closed at o'clock, ...,m.

A B

County Superintendent.

The ballots of such election shall be received and canvassed as in
other elections provided for in this Act, and returns of the results thereof
made to the county superintendent, and if two-thirds ol the vote upon
such proposition shall have been cast in favor of the sale, the county
superintendent shall act thereon. No section shall be sold in any town-
ship containing fewer than 200 inhabitants; and common school lands
in fractional townships may be sold when the number of inhabitants
and the number of acres are in, or above, a ratio of 200 to 640, but not
before.

225. Any fractional township not having the requisite number of
inhabitants to petition for the sale of school lands, which has not hereto-
fore been united with any township for school purposes, and which does
not contain a sufficient number of inhabitants to maintain a free school,
is hereby attached for school purposes, to the adjacent congressional
township having the longest territorial line bordering on such fractional
township, and all the provisions of this Act shall apply to such united
townships the same as though they were one and the same township.

226. When the petition and affidavits are delivered to the county
superintendent, he shall notify the trustees of the township, who shall
immediately divide the land into tracts or lots, of such form and quan-
tity as will produce the largest sum of money, and cause a plat of the
same to be made with each lot numbered and defined so that its bound-
aries mav be forever ascertained.



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227. In subdividing common school lands, no lot shall contain
more than eighty acres, and the division may be into town or village
lots, with roads, streets or alleys between them and through the same;
and all such divisions are hereby declared legal and all such roads,
streets and alleys, public highways.

228. After the school lands have been subdivided and platted,
the trustees of schools shall fix the value of each lot, certify to the cor-
rectness of the plat, stating in the certificate the value of each lot, and
describing it so that it may be identified ; which plat and certificate shall
be delivered to the county superintendent, and shall govern him in ad-
vertising and selling such lands.

229. Upon receipt of the plat and certificate of valuation the
county superintendent shall advertise the sale of such land in lots, as
divided and platted, by posting notice thereof in at least six public
places in the county forty days before the day of sale, describing the
land and stating the time, place and terms of sale. Such notice shall
also be printed each week for four weeks before the day of sale in a
newspaper published in the county, and shall be in the following form,
to wit:

NOTICE OF SALE.

Notice is hereby given that on the day of , Ivy is

between the hours of 10:00 o'clock, a. m., and 6:00, p. m., the undersigned,

superintendent of schools of county, will sell at public sale

to the highest bidder, at the door of the court house in

(or on the premises), the following described real estate,

the same being a part of the school lands of township No , range No.

, as divided, and platted by the trustees of schools of said township, to-

wit: (Here insert full and complete description of said premises.) Said 1
lands will be sold for cash in hand, with the privilege to any purchaser of
borrowing from the undersigned the whole or part of the payment of his bid,
for not less than one nor more than five years, upon his paying interest and"
giving security, as required in case of a loan obtained from the township fund.

Dated this day of , 1. . .

A B

County Superintendent.

230. Upon the day of sale, the county superintendent shall pro-
ceed to make sales as follows: He shall begin at the lowest numbered
lot and proceed regularly to the highest numbered, until they are all
sold or offered. No lot shall be sold for less than its valuation. The
sale may continue from day to day. Each lot shall be sold separately,
and offered long enough to enable any person present to bid who may
desire to do so.

231. At the close of each day's sale the purchasers shall each
pay or secure the payment of the purchase money. In case of a failure
to do so by 10:00 o'clock the succeeding day, the lot purchased shall
again be offered at public sale, on the same terms as before. If the sale
is or is not made the former purchaser shall be required to pay the
difference between his bid and the valuation of the lot, and in case of
his failure to make such payment, the county superintendent may forth-
with institute an action of debt or assumpsit in his name, as superin-
tendent, for the use of the inhabitants of the township where the land



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lies, -for the required sum; and upon making proof, shall be entitled to
judgment, with costs of suit which, when collected, shall be added to
the principal of the township fund.

232. All lands not sold at public sale, as herein provided for,
shall be subject to sale at any time hereafter, at the valuation; and
the county superintendents are authorized and required, when in their
power, to sell all such lands at private sale, upon the terms at which
they were offered at public sale.

233. In all cases in which common school lands have been valued
and have remained unsold for two years after having been offered for
sale in conformity to this Act, the trustees of schools where such lands
are situated may vacate the valuation thereof by an order to be entered
in book A of the county superintendent, and cause a new valuation to
be made, if in their opinion, the interests of the township will be pro-
moted thereby. They shall make the second valuation in the same man-
ner as the first, and shall deliver to the county superintendent a plat
of the land at such second valuation, with the order of vacation, to be
entered, as aforesaid; whereupon the county superintendent shall offer
the land for sale, as if no former valuation had been made. The second
valuation may be made by the trustees of schools without a petition.

' 234. Upon the completion of every sale the county superintendent
shall deliver to the purchaser a certificate of purchase including the
name and residence of the purchaser and the price and description of
the land.

235. Every purchaser of common school lands shall be entitled to
a patent from the State, conveying and assuring the title. Patents
shall be issued by the Auditor of Public Accounts from returns made to
him by the county superintendent. They shall contain a description of
the land granted, and shall be in the name of and signed by the Gover-
nor, countersigned by the Auditor, with the great seal of State affixed
thereto by the Secretary of State, and shall operate to vest in the pur-
chaser a perfect title in fee simple. When patents are executed as herein
required, the Auditor shall note on the list of sales the date of each
patent, in such manner as to perpetuate the evidence of its date and
deliverjr, and thereupon transmit the same to the county superintendent
of the proper county, to be by him delivered to the patentee, his heirs
or assigns, upon the return of the original certificate of purchase, which
certificate, when returned, shall be filed and preserved by the county
superintendent; and all such patents so issued by the State for school
lands, or duly certified copies thereof from any record legally made,
shall, after a lapse of ten years from the date of such patent, and such
sale having been ecquiesced in for ten years by the inhabitants of the
township in which the land so conveyed may be situated, be conclusive
evidence as to the legality of the sale, and that the title to such land
was, at the date of the patent, legally vested in the patentee.

236. Purchasers of common school lands, and their heirs or as-
signs, may obtain certified copies of certificates of purchase and patents,
upon filing affidavit with the county superintendent in respect to certifi-



cates, and with the auditor in respect to patents, proving the loss or de-
struction of the originals ; and such copies shall have the force and effect
of originals.

237. The trustees of schools are hereby authorized to dedicate to
public use, for street and highway purposes, as much of the unimproved
common school lands as may be necessary to open or extend any street
or highway which may be ordered by the municipal authorities to be
opened or extended, if they shall be of the opinion that the benefit to
accrue from the opening or extending of such street or highway will
compensate for the strip so dedicated. It shall not be lawful for any
street or other railroad to lay tracks on any strip of the common school
lands so dedicated, or use the same or any part thereof for railroad or
street railroad purposes, except upon the purchase or lease of the land
from the proper authorities, or upon payment to the school fund of the
township of the value of such use or land, the same as if no street or
highway had been laid out thereon, to be determined by condemnation
proceedings. This section shall not in any way affect existing leases
or contracts for the lease or purchase of common school lands.

FINES, FORFEITURES AND PENALTIES.

238. All fines, forfeitures and penalties imposed or incurred in
any of the courts of record, or before any justice of the peace of the
State, except fines, forfeitures and penalties incurred or imposed in in-
corporated towns or cities for the violation of the by-laws or ordinances
thereof, shall, when collected, be paid to the county superintendent of
schools of the county wherein such fines, forfeitures or penalties have
been imposed or incurred, and the county superintendent of schools
shall give his receipt therefor to the person from whom such fine, for-
feiture Or penalty was received.

23,9. It shall be the duty of the State's attorneys ot the several
counties to enforce the collection of all fines, forfeitures and penalties
imposed or incurred in the courts of record of their respective counties,
and to pay the same to the county superintendent of the county wherein
the same have been imposed or incurred, retaining therefrom the fees
and commissions allowed them by law.

240. It shall be the duty of the justices of the peace to enforce
the collection of all fines, forfeitures and penalties imposed by them;
and to pay the same to the county superiitendent of the county in which
the same were imposed.

241. Clerks of courts of record, State's attorneys and all justices
of the peace shall report, under oath, to the county court of their respec-
tive counties, by the first of March, annually, the amount of such fines,
forfeitures and penalties imposed or incurred in their respective courts,
and the amount of such fines, forfeitures and penalties collected by
them, giving each item separately; and if any such officer has collected
no such fines, forfeitures or penalties he shall make affidavit to such
fact, and file the same with the county superintendent. The judges of
the county court shall inspect the said reports, and may hear evidence
thereon, and if found correct and truthful, shall enter an order approv-



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ing such, report, and directing that any moneys in the hands of such
officers so reporting shall be paid over to the superintendent of schools.
If the court shall not approve such report, he may order another one
to be made, and upon a failure to comply with the order of the court,
or to make a satisfactory report, the court may state an account and
enter an order to pay over, as herein provided. The court, for all pur-
poses for carrying out the provisions of this section, shall have power to
examine books and papers as provided in section 240 of this Act, and
shall have power to issue subpcenas for both books and persons. No-
report shall be approved until the court shall have given the superin-
tendent five days 7 notice of the same, and the superintendent shall be
allowed to inspect the report, and may be heard by the court concerning
the same. The officers charged with the collection of fines, forfeitures
and penalties, the said clerks, State's attorneys and justices of the peace,
for a failure to make such report, shall be liable to a fine of twenty-five
dollars for each offense, such fine to be recovered in a civil action, before
any court, at the suit of the county superintendent of schools of the
proper county.

242. For a failure to pay any fine, forfeiture or penalty, on. demand,
to the person who is by law authorized to receive the same, the officer
or person having collected the same, or having the same in his possession
or control, shall forfeit and' pay double the amount of such fine, forfeiture
or penalty, to be recovered before any court having jurisdiction thereof, in
a qui tarn action, one-half to be paid to the informer and one-half to the
distributive fund of the proper county.

243. In case any clerk of a court of record, State's attorney or
justice of- the peace shall fail to make the report provided for in section
238 of this Act, the county court shall have power, and it is hereby made
the duty of the judge of said court, to examine all records pertaining to
the office of such delinquent officer and enforce the payment of whatever
sum may be found due the school fund from such delinquent officer. For
the purpose of making such examination, the county court shall -have
the right to call for any paper or papers, docket, fee book or other
record belonging to the office of such delinquent officer, and in case such
delinquent officer fails or refuses to furnish such paper, docket, fee book
or other record for the inspection or use of such county court, he shall
forfeit the sum of one hundred dollars, to be recovered in an action jf
debt or assumpsit, before any court of this State having jurisdiction
of the actions of debt and assumpsit, and such penalty, when collected,
shall be paid into the distributive fund of the proper county.

LIABILITY OF SCHOOL OFFICERS.

244. When the county superintendent of schools of any county
shall notify the trustees of schools of a township, in writing, that the
notes, bonds, mortgages or other evidences of indebtedness which have
been taken officially by the township treasurer, are not in proper form,
or that the securities which he has taken are insufficient, it shall be the
duty of the trustees to take at once such action as may be necessary to
protect the property or fund of the township and the district. For a



65

failure or rerusal to take such action within twenty (lays after such
notice, the trustees of schools, each in his individual capacity, shall be
liable to a fine of not less than twenty-five nor more than one hundred
dollars, to be recovered before any justice of the peace, or information
in the name of the People of the State of Illinois, provided such insuffi-
ciency is proven, and, when collected, such fine shall be paid to the
county superintendent of the proper county for the use of the schools.
The payment of this fine shall not relieve the board of trustees from
any civil liability they may have incurred from such neglect of duty.

245. When a change shall be made in the boundaries of a school
district, and a written statement of such change shall be delivered to
the county clerk, it shall be the duty of the county clerk to file such
statement and all papers relating thereto and record them. And in case
of a neglect or failure to do so the said county clerk shall be liable to
a penalty of twenty-five dollars, to be recovered by an action of debt,
before any justice of the peace, at the suit of the county superintendent,
for the benefit of the school fund of the county.

246. Trustees of schools shall be liable, jointly and severally, for
the sufficiency of securities taken from township treasurers; and in case
of judgment against any treasurer and his securities for or on account
of any default of such treasurer, on which the money shall not be made
for want of sufficient property whereon to levy execution, action on the
case may be maintained against the trustees, jointly and severally, and
the amount not collected on the judgment shall be recovered with costs
of suit from such trustees. If the trustees can show, satisfactorily, that
the security taken from the treasurer, was, at the time it was taken, good
and sufficient, they shall not be liable.

247. If the trustees of schools shall fail to observe the provisions
of this Act in reference to the distribution of funds and property when
a new district is formed, they shall be individually and jointly liable
to the district interested, in an action on the case, to the full amount
of the damages sustained by the district aggrieved. When trustees have
heretofore failed to make the distribution of property to districts, as
provided by this Act, the district interested in such distribution may,
by its directors, request the trustees in writing to make such distribu-
tion; and the trustees shall make it in the manner prescribed, and shall
be liable, as herein stated, for the neglect or failure to do so.

248. The clerk of any board of trustees who shall fail, neglect or
refuse to perform the duties imposed upon him by this Act, within the
time or in the manner prescribed, shall, for each offense, forfeit not
less than ten dollars, nor more than twenty-five dollars, of his pay as
clerk of the trustees of schools and township treasurer, which forfeiture
shall be enforced by the trustees.

249. For a failure on the part of the treasurer, clerk of any board
of directors, or any director, to comply with any of the requirements of
this Act, he shall be liable to a penalty of not less than $5.00 nor
more than $50.00, to be recovered before any justice of the peace of
the county in which the offense is committed.

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250. For any failure or refusal to perform all the duties required
of the township treasurer by law, he shall be liable to the trustees of
schools, upon his official bond, for all damages sustained, to be recovered
by action of debt by the trustees for the use of the township, before any
court having jurisdiction of the amount of damages claimed; but if the
treasurer, in any failure or refusal, acted under and in conformity to a
requisition or order of the trustees of schools, or a majority of them,
entered upon their journal and subscribed by their president and clerk,
then, and in that case, the trustees of schools or those voting for such
requisition or order, and not the treasurer, shall be liable, jointly and
severally, to the inhabitants of the township for such damages, to be
recovered by an action of assumpsit in the official name of the county
superintendent of schools, for the use of the townships : Provided, how-
ever, that the township treasurer shall be liable for any part of the
judgment obtained against the trustees of schools which cannot be col-
lected on account of their insolvency.

251. If judgment shall be obtained against any trustee of schools
or directors, the party entitled to the benefit of such judgment may have
execution therefor as follows: The court in which such judgment shall
be obtained, or to which such judgment may be removed by transcript
or appeal from a justice of the peace, or other court, shall issue a writ
commanding the directors, trustees and treasurer of such township to
cause the amount thereof, with interest and costs, to be paid to the party